“…The English School approach does not offer any explanation regarding the continued presence of religious imagery, metaphors, narratives and actors in the politics of the West and in global politics more generally. Examples of this continued influence include the controversy in France surrounding the wearing of religious symbols, in particular the hijab (Jones 2003;Jones 2004: 154-5), the rising political influence of religious lobby groups and political parties with links to religious denominations in Western states, such as Australia and the US (Smith and Marden 2008;Warhurst 2007), and the growing number of Western politicians ready to publicly profess their faith and use religious language in the service of their political agenda. 3 Accepting the insights from the English School concerning religion's historical influence on the development of the modern West and the international states-system, I suggest further that not only did religion have an important influence on the historical development of politics in the West, but it continues to have a direct impact on Western politics through a variety of avenues, in particular through political discourses, narratives and constructions of national, civilizational and, to some extent, global identity.…”